Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
attendees: Don+Melissa, Eden+Scott, Jay, Jayson, Jeff, Lisa, Victor
Victor and Jeff pour.
In the planning discussion, I realized that I had a good white match to go with Victor's white so I put that in and took a red out. As Victor planned to open even older bottles than I will, my bottles will go before his.
My little bottles ready to be go:
.
The Whites
V: Trimbach 2017 Riesling "Cuvee Frederic Emile" - light gold, brisk and bright, beautiful fruit and acidity, clearly Alsatian
-- Eden very quickly guesses "Alsace?" (yes), Jayson declares that "Victor + Alsace = Trimbach" (yes), someone asks if this is "the 390 bottle?" (no), Jayson places it as 2017 (yes), and someone declares that this a lighter style than Frederic Emile (no!) but Jayson gets it.
-- Day 3: yummy stuff, a little ripe
J: Trimbach 2002 Riesling "Cuvee Frederic Emile" - Thor bottle ($53.99 at Wine Cask!), 12.5%, under the cap it smells like TCA but I proceed, the cork is soft and soaked almost all the way to the top, comes out cleanly, wine smells OK; medium gold, riesling fruit of an apricotty kind, face powder, more brilliant acids, powerful wine, really a wow bottle
-- Jayson says "both riesling" (yes), but then folks get a little lost... "oak component?" (no), "something lactic in the nose?" -Eden, "roasted chicken" -Jayson, "I don't get that" -Victor, "tree resin" -Melissa, but eventually Jayson gets it.
-- Day 3: starting to fade, shows a little sour now
Jeff's Reds
Bottles have been standing up for four days. Opened and re-corked just before midnight last night. Poured in pairs although the theme covers all four wines: folks guess Italy pretty quickly, and, after only a few more guesses, that all the wines are going to be nebbiolo. Pretty good for a bunch of French wine drinkers! (The theme is simply a tour of great nebbiolo vintages.)
Ca' Nova (Giada Codecasa) 2010 Ghemme - from Winebid, 13.5%, tight-fitting cork came out whole; tannic, sturdy wine, good dark cran/pom fruit, so youthful yet
-- "beautiful black cherry spiciness, super juicy" -Eden
-- "nicely balanced, still has fruit and not just the leafy or 'pure earth' side of Italy" -Jayson
-- "perceive tannins here far longer than in the next wine" -Don
-- Day 3: even better than Day 1, broader acids and just a little more yielding tannins, good cup for the table now as it has its own interests but it works with other things
Produttori del Barbaresco 2004 Barbaresco Riserva "Montestefano" - 14%, bottle #5473 of 11,853 bottles, perfect cork with a carpet of small tartaric acid crystals, smells intense; fragrant, the fruit here is more cran/cherry, still plenty robust even at twenty years, this is more fun to drink than the ghemme
-- "a little more fruited" -Jayson
-- "licorice or fennel" -Eden
-- Day 3: more delicate nose than the two baroli, redfruit struggling to get past the rocks and camphor and black cherry, finish is balanced and lovely
Roagna 2001 Barolo "La Rocca e la Pira" - Luca Roagna's first vintage, 13.5%, perfect cork, smells more redfruity than the Produttori; this is even more floral and, while still sturdy, that strength is subsumed under the fruit and the mouthfeel rather than standing forward so bluntly; strangely... I get a little chicken broth on this one!
-- "bottle age sweetness" -Don
-- "long!" -Jayson
-- "flat-out gorgeous" -Jay
-- Day 3: much livelier, more redfruit, longer finish, less scratchy, even a little yellow fruit in here too! I can go outside now...; second pour is even more expansive
Rinaldi F 1996 Barolo "Cannubbio" - 13.5%, cork snapped but no problem for the Durand to finish; back in its youth this bottling would be very accessible for a few hours after opening and then shut down hard, this bottle starts out funky but that blows off after a half-hour or so, tastes of its place but not as good a drink as the Roagna
-- "bonfire-type nose" -Jayson
-- Eden worries about a "cheesey" nose
-- "this is an old Italian countess smoking a cigarette and wearing red lipstick" -Melissa
-- Day 3: still smoky, earthy, maybe a hint of rubber heels, scratchy blue fruit, good but not shout out loud good; second pour is back to cheesey/funky nasal experience
Victor's Reds
Right Bank. Alas, Victor was constrained by how many little bottles he had on hand.
Ch. L'Evangile 1985 Pomerol - https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/bordeaux-wine-producer-profiles/bordeaux/pomerol/levangile/
-- "a little rose-petal" -Melissa
-- "A little tannic roughness" -Jay
-- "there's cab franc in it" -Jeff (typically 80 merlot 20 cab franc)
-- "1985" -Jay
-- "a little rustic, more than I expected" -Victor
-- "lots of tobacco" -Jeff
-- finally, Jay gets it but there were lots of wrong guesses (Graves, St-Julien, right bank...)
-- Jay and Jayson both comment that the 2005 and 2010 L'Evangiles were terrible
-- Day 3: currants and pine, some toasted bread, mid-weight, clean and pure in the mouth, finish is long but not strong
Ch. L'Evangile 1983 Pomerol
-- corked, awful, quick rinse the glasses!
-- Jayson soldiers on and says the palate is good; I think he also guessed 1983
Ch. La Conseillante 1975 Pomerol - a little lactic on the nose or is that school paste? no matter, this is great
-- the group pegs it to 1975 pretty quickly
-- "tannins are plush" -Jay(?)
-- "much dryer than the L'Evangile"
-- "in a 73 cl bottle!" -Victor
-- Day 3: that's really pretty!, nice mix of earth and cherry-cran fruit, vivacious, savory, great wine
One Sweetie
Pinon, F 1993 Vouvray Moelleux - presumably a pick-error because I don't recall buying it, hand-written label, that's a mighty small and dingy cork, the wine offers the usual dubious chenin smells when first opened; by the evening, this is firmly in wow territory, kinda medium-weight for a moelleux but the flavor and intensity of it sneaks up on you
-- "off the charts good" -Jayson
-- "botrytis wines are sometimes less open" -Don
-- "nose like cinnamon candy" -Jayson
-- "1993 Moelleux are a good bet in the Loire" -Don
Thanks, again, to everyone for an enjoyable visit to all your homes at once.
Next time is the 50th!!!
Victor and Jeff pour.
In the planning discussion, I realized that I had a good white match to go with Victor's white so I put that in and took a red out. As Victor planned to open even older bottles than I will, my bottles will go before his.
My little bottles ready to be go:
The Whites
V: Trimbach 2017 Riesling "Cuvee Frederic Emile" - light gold, brisk and bright, beautiful fruit and acidity, clearly Alsatian
-- Eden very quickly guesses "Alsace?" (yes), Jayson declares that "Victor + Alsace = Trimbach" (yes), someone asks if this is "the 390 bottle?" (no), Jayson places it as 2017 (yes), and someone declares that this a lighter style than Frederic Emile (no!) but Jayson gets it.
-- Day 3: yummy stuff, a little ripe
J: Trimbach 2002 Riesling "Cuvee Frederic Emile" - Thor bottle ($53.99 at Wine Cask!), 12.5%, under the cap it smells like TCA but I proceed, the cork is soft and soaked almost all the way to the top, comes out cleanly, wine smells OK; medium gold, riesling fruit of an apricotty kind, face powder, more brilliant acids, powerful wine, really a wow bottle
-- Jayson says "both riesling" (yes), but then folks get a little lost... "oak component?" (no), "something lactic in the nose?" -Eden, "roasted chicken" -Jayson, "I don't get that" -Victor, "tree resin" -Melissa, but eventually Jayson gets it.
-- Day 3: starting to fade, shows a little sour now
Jeff's Reds
Bottles have been standing up for four days. Opened and re-corked just before midnight last night. Poured in pairs although the theme covers all four wines: folks guess Italy pretty quickly, and, after only a few more guesses, that all the wines are going to be nebbiolo. Pretty good for a bunch of French wine drinkers! (The theme is simply a tour of great nebbiolo vintages.)
Ca' Nova (Giada Codecasa) 2010 Ghemme - from Winebid, 13.5%, tight-fitting cork came out whole; tannic, sturdy wine, good dark cran/pom fruit, so youthful yet
-- "beautiful black cherry spiciness, super juicy" -Eden
-- "nicely balanced, still has fruit and not just the leafy or 'pure earth' side of Italy" -Jayson
-- "perceive tannins here far longer than in the next wine" -Don
-- Day 3: even better than Day 1, broader acids and just a little more yielding tannins, good cup for the table now as it has its own interests but it works with other things
Produttori del Barbaresco 2004 Barbaresco Riserva "Montestefano" - 14%, bottle #5473 of 11,853 bottles, perfect cork with a carpet of small tartaric acid crystals, smells intense; fragrant, the fruit here is more cran/cherry, still plenty robust even at twenty years, this is more fun to drink than the ghemme
-- "a little more fruited" -Jayson
-- "licorice or fennel" -Eden
-- Day 3: more delicate nose than the two baroli, redfruit struggling to get past the rocks and camphor and black cherry, finish is balanced and lovely
Roagna 2001 Barolo "La Rocca e la Pira" - Luca Roagna's first vintage, 13.5%, perfect cork, smells more redfruity than the Produttori; this is even more floral and, while still sturdy, that strength is subsumed under the fruit and the mouthfeel rather than standing forward so bluntly; strangely... I get a little chicken broth on this one!
-- "bottle age sweetness" -Don
-- "long!" -Jayson
-- "flat-out gorgeous" -Jay
-- Day 3: much livelier, more redfruit, longer finish, less scratchy, even a little yellow fruit in here too! I can go outside now...; second pour is even more expansive
Rinaldi F 1996 Barolo "Cannubbio" - 13.5%, cork snapped but no problem for the Durand to finish; back in its youth this bottling would be very accessible for a few hours after opening and then shut down hard, this bottle starts out funky but that blows off after a half-hour or so, tastes of its place but not as good a drink as the Roagna
-- "bonfire-type nose" -Jayson
-- Eden worries about a "cheesey" nose
-- "this is an old Italian countess smoking a cigarette and wearing red lipstick" -Melissa
-- Day 3: still smoky, earthy, maybe a hint of rubber heels, scratchy blue fruit, good but not shout out loud good; second pour is back to cheesey/funky nasal experience
Victor's Reds
Right Bank. Alas, Victor was constrained by how many little bottles he had on hand.
Ch. L'Evangile 1985 Pomerol - https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/bordeaux-wine-producer-profiles/bordeaux/pomerol/levangile/
-- "a little rose-petal" -Melissa
-- "A little tannic roughness" -Jay
-- "there's cab franc in it" -Jeff (typically 80 merlot 20 cab franc)
-- "1985" -Jay
-- "a little rustic, more than I expected" -Victor
-- "lots of tobacco" -Jeff
-- finally, Jay gets it but there were lots of wrong guesses (Graves, St-Julien, right bank...)
-- Jay and Jayson both comment that the 2005 and 2010 L'Evangiles were terrible
-- Day 3: currants and pine, some toasted bread, mid-weight, clean and pure in the mouth, finish is long but not strong
Ch. L'Evangile 1983 Pomerol
-- corked, awful, quick rinse the glasses!
-- Jayson soldiers on and says the palate is good; I think he also guessed 1983
Ch. La Conseillante 1975 Pomerol - a little lactic on the nose or is that school paste? no matter, this is great
-- the group pegs it to 1975 pretty quickly
-- "tannins are plush" -Jay(?)
-- "much dryer than the L'Evangile"
-- "in a 73 cl bottle!" -Victor
-- Day 3: that's really pretty!, nice mix of earth and cherry-cran fruit, vivacious, savory, great wine
One Sweetie
Pinon, F 1993 Vouvray Moelleux - presumably a pick-error because I don't recall buying it, hand-written label, that's a mighty small and dingy cork, the wine offers the usual dubious chenin smells when first opened; by the evening, this is firmly in wow territory, kinda medium-weight for a moelleux but the flavor and intensity of it sneaks up on you
-- "off the charts good" -Jayson
-- "botrytis wines are sometimes less open" -Don
-- "nose like cinnamon candy" -Jayson
-- "1993 Moelleux are a good bet in the Loire" -Don
Thanks, again, to everyone for an enjoyable visit to all your homes at once.
Next time is the 50th!!!
